Christina Cox is a Canadian film and television actress, familiar to Russian viewers from the films The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), as well as the series Blood Ties (2007 -…). In addition, the actress graduated from stunt school, and does some scenes without an understudy. She also co-produced one film.
However, these are not all of her talents: in her youth, Christina took up dancing in order to expand the range of her acting capabilities.
Biography
The future actress was born in 1971 in the city of Toronto, in a large family: she has two more older sisters. Therefore, the girl's childhood was fun, filled with communication and games. Their family is from Arabs, and in their traditions strong family ties. Christina's father was an important person in the automotive industry in Canada, so the sisters could receive a good education.
Christina, in particular, studied dance at Unionville High School and then continued her studies at the Ryerson Theater in Toronto, where she studied for two years. By nature, a flexible and physically strong girl quickly mastered the basics of dance and began to take an interest in other areas of art.
While still at school, she was engaged in taekwondo, perfectly mastered boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing and fencing, and also underwent training in stage combat, historical and firearms. Gymnastics was another hobby of hers. We can say that she spent all her free time in the gym or on the dance floor.
In some sports, Christina achieved a lot, and they began to send her to competitions in gymnastics, athletics and taekwondo. She took part in such competitions many times back in her school years and showed good results according to the results.
In high school, she began to intensively engage in rhythmic gymnastics, because she wanted to connect her life with sports and dreamed of Olympic victories. However, after thinking well, she decided that she was still much closer to the theater and everything connected with it. Apparently, studying at the Ryerson University Theater School did not pass without leaving a trace, and the magic of theater worked when the time came.
Of course, her first roles in the theater were not so significant works, but this experience was invaluable for the accumulation of professionalism. Over time, she began to take on more challenging roles, and she appeared in numerous national theatrical productions, including Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Jim Cartwright's The Road.
Career and filmography
Cox has played in almost a hundred films and TV series. Her most famous film work is considered to be her role in the 1999 Canadian film Better Than Chocolate and The Chronicles of Riddick. She received a Gemini Award nomination for her role as Angela Ramirez in Special Effects (1996-1998). She also starred in the UPN sitcom Girlfriends as Lynn in the pilot episode.
As a stuntman, she showed her skills in the film "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), where instead of actress Hilary Swank she entered the boxing ring. The film was impressive, and Swank won an Oscar for her role. It seems that this is a great contribution of Christina Cox, because the fight scenes take a significant place in the film.
The film debut for the actress took place with a role in the TV series "News Service" (1989-1994), where she played a cameo role of a young woman. The next role was already more significant - the image of Jenny Ars in the TV series "Knight Forever" (1992-1996).
Cox managed to get really serious roles only in the early nineties - for example, the leading role in the TV series "Special Effects". And she brought her fame: in 1998, the actress was nominated for a Gemini Award for this work. The director was very pleased with Christina, and often repeated that if everyone played like her, then the director would have nothing to do on the set.
In the late nineties, Cox decided to move to Los Angeles and try her luck on American television. She succeeded - she became the heroine of the show and participated in many television projects. She sometimes traveled to Canada to film in her homeland, and in 1999 she starred in the drama Better Chocolate. The film tells about two girls in love with each other. Christina played the role of Kim, the friend of the main character. They hide their orientation from their relatives and are forced to lie and pretend for fear that they will be judged by their relatives.
The next notable series in Christina's filmography was the project "Blood Ties", which was based on the novel by Tanya Huff, who also wrote the script and was very pleased that the role of Vicky Nelson would be played by Cox - the writer saw her in "Special Effects". And she said that it was such an actress that she represented in the role of the main character.
Cox also starred as astronaut-biologist Jen Crane in Defying Gravity, and also appeared in the fourth season of Dexter, where she played the evil cop Zoe Krueger. Together with Elias Koteas and Deborah Kara Unger, Christina starred in the famous TV series Hot Zone. She also starred in the famous project "House Doctor", the crime series "Elementary", "The Mentalist" and many others.
Personal life
The actress met her future husband Grant Mattos on the set of the TV series "The Last Hero" (2000- …). They got married literally a week after filming ended, and no one knew about their wedding.
Grant is a retired footballer who later embarked on a career as a yoga coach. He does a lot of charity work - he collects funds for patients with BSA.
In 2013, the couple had a daughter, Flynn.
